National Geographic Channel turns its state-of-the-art cameras on America for a close-up of its national parks. More than three years in the making, the eight-part series goes beyond the homegrown beauty to allow viewers to witness moments full of drama, watch stories of life and death, and discover hidden gems in high-tech ways heretofore never presented on TV. Each hourlong episode features one park, from the geysers of Yellowstone and the hot desert of Saguaro to the sprawling Smoky Mountains and world-famous Grand Canyon.

Duct tape won't do the job when it comes to the repairs featured in this series, an inside look at what happens when big industry breaks down. Host Sean Riley, a professional rigger with a passion for adventure, is on the scene as each one-hour episode depicts him working with some of the world's top mechanics making heavy-duty industrial repairs.

This five-hour exposé tells the story of America's heartland, where wildlife roam across wild swaths of frontier land. It's the woods that Davy Crockett once called home in The Great Valley of Appalachia, and where Wild Bill Hickok saw his last sunset in the Badlands of South Dakota. From bears, bison and burrowing owls, to weasels, wood ducks and wild horses, episodes reveal a cast of critters making themselves at home, whether it's beneath ice sheets in the Land of Lakes, or sharing the abundant ecosystem among farmers and their tools.

National Geographic expeditions expert Casey Anderson leads viewers on a trek from the bottom of the Grand Canyon to the Arctic Ocean, and to many places in between, on a search for rare and endangered species such as wolverines, mountain lions, black bears and polar bears. In the episode "Wolverine King," for example, Anderson manages to forge a unique face-to-face bond with Jasper, a captivity-raised wolverine, to separate fact from fiction and learn the truth about these notorious carnivores. And in "Grand Canyon Safari," Anderson observes condors, rare Kaibab squirrels, tree frogs, rattlesnakes and chuckwalla lizards in their natural habitats.

Dr. Brady Barr, a herpetologist by trade, travels all over the world to study reptiles and other creatures in their native habitats, often risking his life in the process. His mission is two-fold: to collect as much information as possible about the animals he studies and to inform the public about the state of the planet and the risk of extinction many animal species face. And, of course, there's another benefit to all his work: It makes great TV.

"Move as millions. Survive as one." That's the catchphrase of this seven-part event for which a National Geographic team spent two-plus years recording across 20 countries and all seven continents. Narrated by Alec Baldwin, it tells the stories of many of the planet's species and the journeys they undertake to ensure their survival. The diverse range of animals shown -- many revealing behaviors never caught on film before -- include Botswana zebras, Mali elephants, flying foxes in Australia, Pacific white sharks, and the white-eared kob of the Sudan, thought to have been destroyed during decades of violence.